Display apparatus

ABSTRACT

Blowing forces are directed through selected compressed air openings toward films of ink held in a regularly perforated carrier, such as an endless mesh, for rupturing selected films and unblocking corresponding interstices to form a succession of characters, outlined in the carrier by the optical contrast between blocked and unblocked interstices.

United States Patent 1111 3,600,834

[72] Inventor Michael E. Stamer [56] I References Cited Chicago. IILUNxTED STATES PATENTS {2'} APP" No' 837293 1,581,322 4/1926 Reed 118/325x [22] Filed June 27, 1969 l 8 456 2 939 G h [45] Patented Aug. 24,19712 4 /l rossa lOl/169 [73] Assignee Teletype Corporation 3,247,825 4/1966Johnson l 18/637 Skokie, L 3,377,598 4/1968 Borman 346/74 PrimaryExaminer- Robert W. Michell Assistant Examiner-'Richard CarterAttorneys-J. L. Landis, and R. P. Miller [54] DISPLAY APPARATUScbimss'nrawing Flgs' ABSTRACT: Blowing forces are directed throughselected 52] U.S. Cl 40/32, compressed air openings toward lms of inkheld in a regularly 40/106.21, 118/325 perforated carrier, such as anendless mesh, for rupturing [51] InLCl 1 G09f11/32 selected tlms andunblocking corresponding interstices to [50] Field of Search 40/37, 39,form a succession of characters, outlined in the carrier by the 40, 326,106.21, 32; lOl/1, 167, 169 optical contrast between blocked andunblocked nterstices.

The present invention relates to displays. More particularly it relatesto an apparatus for temporarily displaying information characters on anendless moving strip.

Attendent this present era of burgeoning knowledge has been g a growthof improved information display techniques. Even independent of theinformational expansion, the desire for ever increasing the speed of alllevels of communications has been responsible for the channelling ofvast resources into a quest for continuously improving data transmissionand display. The past efforts have been exceedingly fruitful in creationof novelties in consequence of the application of sophisticatedtechnology to solving problems. For the most part costs have increasedwith increase in complexity of the technology.

It is an object of this invention to provide improved display apparatus.

It is another object of the inventor that the cost of the display berelatively inexpensive.

, It is a further object of the invention that the apparatus berelatively easily maintained.

A yet further object of the invention is to conserve materials indisplay apparatus.

SUMMARY oF THE INVENTION To effect the foregoing and other objectsaccording to the invention, a process for a display comprises loading acarrier with a light blocking fluid and then blowing toward the fluid toform a character outline in the carrier. To carry' out the processaccording to the invention, preferred apparatus comprises a thin carrierhaving interstices and means for loading the interstices with a liquidto form films occluding all of the openings. Means are provided forrupturing the films in selected interstices, as by blowing at the films,to form a character outline in the carrier.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. l is a scheme in perspective ofapparatus embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of a display section of a carriercomprising the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevational view of a blower jet mount alsocomprising the apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT Referring now to thedrawings, particularly FIG. l, the display apparatus shown comprises acarrier l which may be a mesh to provide a plurality of uniformlyarranged interstices l2 (only some of which have reference numerals inFIG. 2). The carrier may be endless, as illustrated, and fashioned froma plurality of normally crossed strands 14 (only exemplary of which havereference numerals applied). Each strand of the illustrated carrier hasa diameter of 0.015 inch, andis spaced from an adjoining parallel stranda distance of 0.057 inch, to the end that each interstice is a square0.057 inch on a side.

Each of exemplary strands 14 comprises a bundle of glass fibers coatedwith polyvinyl chloride. However, a wide range of materials, such asscreening of suitable metal or plastic mesh can be employed. Theexemplary fabric imparts good antifatigue characteristics and bendingproperties enabling carrier l0 to be curved about a radius of less thanone-half inch.

A container 16 for a liquid composition, such as an ink 18, or the like,has an opening 20 which is arranged in operative association withcarrier l0. The opening is shown as upwardly directed and isproportioned and disposed for entrance of the carrier into the containerfor ink loading and exit thereof from Said container after it has beenloaded.

Ink 18 is a composition which can be held as occluding liquid films 22(only some of which are numbered) by adhe sive attraction in interstices12. Inasmuch as the optimum tenacity of the ink for the fabric ofcarrier l0 will vary according to the character of the use for which thedisplay is inY tended, the composition of the ink may vary widely. Whilesuch composition is not critical in the present invention, a compositionfordisplays which will retain integrity of films 22 for in excess ofthree months comprises about 72 percent by weight of a mineral oilhaving a rating in Saybolt seconds of 82 to 90, and about 28 percent byweight of Azo Oil Black.

Other factors which will affect the choice of composition of the inkwill be the level of wettability of the material from which the carrieris fabricated, magnitude of the cohesive forces of the composition, theadhesive forces between the composition and the carrier, and the surfacetensions of the materials. Under circumstances which will be manifest totechnicians knowledgeable in the art, surfactants may be added to theink or coated on or applied to strands 14 for aiding formation of films22 and insuring retention of film integrity.

Means, generally designated 32, for driving the carrier in a circuitouspath relative opening 20 to enable loading of interstices l2 with ink 18comprises a drive roller or pulley 24 and an idler roller or pulley 26.They are vertically spaced apart with the drive roller in superimposedaspect. Driving means 32 also includes a prime mover such as motor 34.It has an output shaft 44 which is coupled to pulley 24 through theagency of a pulley Vbelt 36, the latter being frictionally entrainedabout a pair of sheaves 38 and 40 secured, respectively, to an axismember 42 of pulley 24 and said output shaft.

In the illustrated embodiment, carrier 10 is formed in a loop andfrictionally entrained about pulleys 24 and 26. Thereby, there isprovided a vertically oriented display section 56 which is disposeddownstream of the container but which changes as the carrier is driven.However, a sprocket drive or other forms of drive transmission (notshown) may be equivalently employed in place of the illustratedfrictional drive.

Pulley 26 has an axis member 28 which is journaled in opposed sidewalls30 of container 16. The arrangement and proportion of parts and thedepth of ink in the container is such that said last pulley is disposedbetween sidewalls 30 at a level which will cause immersion of carrier 10in the ink when the latter is maintained at an operative level incontainer 16.

Means for blowing towardv and rupturing the liquid films in selectedinterstices to form successive outlines of characters, or other patternsto be displayed, of which character S8 is exemplary, by breaking films22 is generally designated 46. Said means comprises blower 48 disposedoutside the loop formed said loop from the air supply source toward thecarrier 52.

These ducts are in fluid communication with the ducts in blower 48 andare equally spaced, each from an adjoining thereof. The dimensions ofthe openings are governed by the dimensions of interstices 12 and thedistance of plate 50 from carrier l0.

Control of fluid from source 54 through selected openings 52 is throughthe Vagency of generally conventional character generating circuitrygenerally designated 60. The latter may be arranged for causing air tobe blown from selected jet openings as an analog function of aprogrammed input. That is to say, the circuitry conditions the valves insaid ducts for blocking or passing air, and it may be of the type usedto control the actuation of print wires, hammers, or other dot formingelements in'a conventional dot matrix printing device (not shown). TheAcircuitry also may be connected operatively to motor 34 for effectingintermittent operation thereof in a manner such that drive to thecarrier l is interrupted following the formation of successivecharacters. The details of construction of said circuitry are notcritical to the present invention and further description thereof istherefore omitted.

In the illustrated embodiment, openings 52 are oriented and alignedadjacent the carrier, being spaced therefrom about 0.0125 inch. Eachopening 52 is rectangular, being about 0.185-inch wide and about0.0l4-inch high. The arrangement of the openings is such that eachopening 52 is centered with respect to three horizontally alignedinterstices l2. ln consequence, when air is moved out of openings 52 atthe rate of about 1/4 cubic foot per minute with carrier 10 moving atthe rate of 690 vertically aligned successive interstices per second,the force will be adequate to break all of the films 22 in successivevertical characters, each covering a carrier section 30 interstices longand 2l interstices wide.

For forming successive characters, having the exemplary dimensions,longitudinally of the carrier, with the single horizontal line of jetopenings 52, the carrier was continuously moved in a downstreamdirection according to arrow 70, at the rate of about 39.33 inches persecond. Particularly, the character generator was programmed to generateten signal increments for each character. When the illustrated characterwas formed, during the first increment, an air jet was blown from all ofopenings 52 for the time required for three horizontal rows of aperturesto pass said openings 52, to form the upper leg 62. A similar conditionprevailed during the tenth increment to form lower leg 64. During thefifth increment an air jet was generated only from the four openings atthe right of plate 50 (as seen in FIG. 3) to form middle leg 66. At allother increments only the extreme right opening was active.

By providing only a single line of openings 52, savings in the equipmentcan be obtained over a condition in which a matrix plate has a pluralityof openings arranged not only horizontally, but also vertically, toenable unitary formation of whole characters rather than incrementalformation. Furthermore,

by increasing the number of horizontal openings, a horizontal line ofcharacters can be printed incrementally and simultaneously, the lengthof the line being limited by the width of the carrier andthe numberofopenings.

A light transmissive housing having therein a light source (not shown)comprises illuminating means 68. It is supported within the loop of thecarrier behind and adjacent display section 56, downstream of jetopenings 52. The illuminating means enables effective display of thecharacters outlined by films 22 about the interstices in which filmshave been broken.

To minimize the likelihood of ink running back on section 56, a wiperblade 72 is mounted within the loop of the carrier with its wiping edgearranged for stripping excess ink from pulley 24 and guiding thestripped ink away from section 56.

Within the capability of the technology as presently developed, tenhorizontal lines of characters, each having a height of about 3.6 incheswith a carrier having interstices of about 0.057 inches on a side, canbe printed each second according to the present invention. The presentdeterrent to more rapid printing is the responsiveness of the valves(not shown) controlling flow through openings 52.

In consequence of the present device an almost unlimited range incontrast between character and background and of display effect can beachieved in any apparatus merely by varying the color of theilluminating means.

inasmuch as many changes can be made in the illustrated embodiment andthe described process, it is intended that the drawings and thedescription thereof be considered as illustrative only and not in alimiting sense.

Iclaim: 1. Display apparatus for temporarily displaying a succession ofintelligence characters and comprising:

a carrier having a plurality of interstices; a container for liquidhaving an opening; means for driving said carrier relative to saidcontainer opening for loading said interstices with films of the li uid;mealns for blowing compressed air and having a plurality of alignedopenings disposed in alignment with a plurality of said interstices and;means for moving compressed air through any selected openings to formsuccessive outline of characters of intelligence by rupturing the filmsin the interstices aligned with said openings. 2. Apparatus according toclaim 1 wherein said carrier is endless, being formed in a loop andarranged for movement in a circuitous path, said apparatus characterizedin that said blowing means is disposed adjacent said carrier outside ofsaid loop, and has a region disposed downstream of said container andsaid blowing means in which the formed characters of intelligence aredisplayed.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said carrier, when driven, hasa changing display section of vertical orientation disposed in saidregion and-above said blowing means, and said driving mean is arrangedfor moving said display section upwardly through said region.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 further characterized by means forpreventing liquid downstream of and above said region from flowingupstream onto said display section.

5. Apparatus according to claim 2 characterized by illuminating meansfor highlighting character outline 4 and disposed adjacent the face ofthe carrier within said loop downstream of and above said blowing means.

6. Apparatus for temporarily displaying a succession of intelligencecharacters, comprising:

an endless mesh carrier having a plurality of intersecting strandsdefining a rectangular matrix of rectangular openings of such size thata film of liquid can be held across each opening;

means for applying a light-blocking liquid ink to the carrier to depositfilms occluding each of the openings;

means for blowing streams of compressed air at selected openings of thecarrier to vrupture the films in said selected openings and form asuccession of characters in the carrier delineated by the presence orabsence of ink films; and

` means for advancing the carrier such that successive portions pass theink-applying means, the blowing means, a display area downstream of theblowing means, and then return to the ink-applying means.

1. Display apparatus for temporarily displaying a succession ofintelligence characters and comprising: a carrier having a plurality ofinterstices; a container for liquid having an opening; means for drivingsaid carrier relative to said container opening for loading saidinterstices with films of the liquid; means for blowing compressed airand having a plurality of aligned openings disposed in alignment with aplurality of said interstices and; means for moving compressed airthrough any selected openings to form successive outline of charactersof intelligence by rupturing the films in the interstices aligned withsaid openings.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said carrier isendless, being formed in a loop and arranged for movement in acircuitous path, said apparatus characterized in that said blowing meansis disposed adjacent said carrier outside of said loop, and has a regiondisposed downstream of said container and said blowing means in whichthe formed characters of intelligence are displayed.
 3. Apparatusaccording to claim 2 wherein said carrier, when driven, has a changingdisplay section of vertical orientation disposed in said region andabove said blowing means, and said driving mean is arranged for movingsaid display section upwardly through said region.
 4. Apparatusaccording to claim 3 further characterized by means for preventingliquid downstream of and above said region from flowing upstream ontosaid display section.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 2 characterized byilluminating means for highlighting character outline and disposedadjacent the face of the carrier within said loop downstream of andabove said blowing means.
 6. Apparatus for temporarily displaying asuccession of intelligence characters, comprising: an endless meshcarrier having a plurality of intersecting strands defining arectangular matrix of rectangular openings of such size that a film ofliquid can be held across each opening; means for applying alight-blocking liquid ink to the carrier to deposit films occluding eachof the openings; means for blowing streams of compressed air at selectedopenings of the carrier to rupture the films in said selected openingsand form a succession of characters in the carrier delineated by thepresence or absence of ink films; and means for advancing the carriersuch that successive portions pass the ink-applying means, the blowingmeans, a display area downstream of the blowing means, and then returnto the ink-applying means.